“The characterization of the Indian in these writings, which date from 1877 to 1914, is used to show how the dominant whites varied their idea of the Indian to conform to political and economic utility. Savage shows that 'after initial contact, the Indian was a curiosity, then an entertainment. Thereafter he was made noble by whites who required his cooperation and a beast by those secure enough to survive without his help and, beyond that, to take what he had. Then, when his numbers were diminished and he was far removed from the white population, he became again a curiosity and an entertainment.' Savage's introduction is brief but trenchant: It should be read both before and after the selections." - Pacific Historian.